RALEIGH, N.C. – The ninth-seeded Butler Bulldogs topped the eighth-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders 71-61 in first-round play in the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament hosted at PNC Arena on Thursday.
The first game of the day in the City of Oaks highlighted a closely contested Midwest Regional match-up which Butler (22-10) led 30-28 at halftime.
Four Bulldogs carried the load with double-digit finishes led by Kellen Dunham’s 23-point performance that included dropping 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Devaugntah Williams’ 18 points off a 50-percent (7-14) conversion rate, including four three-pointers, carried the offensive load for Texas Tech (19-13).
Butler’s second-half shooting (13-25) was slightly better at 52 percent and provided enough of a buffer to keep Texas Tech at a distance during the final 10 minutes.
With the score tied 48-48, Kelan Martin scored eight of his 11 points in succession and pushed the Bulldogs ahead 56-48 with 7:34 to play.
While the Red Raiders inched back with short and long-range field goals, the advantage was large enough to allow Butler to match shots and eventually earn the win to advance to the next round.
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Butler 71, Texas Tech 61
Top Performers
Butler: Kellen Dunham 23 pts. (8-15, 5-9 3pts.); Tyler Wideman 14 pts. (6-6); Andrew Chrabascz 13 pts. (4-8, 4-4 FT); Kelan Martin 11 pts. (4-9, 2-4 3 pts.)
Texas Tech: Devaugntah Williams, 18 pts. (7-14, 4-8 3 pts.); Justin Gray 10 pts. (4-11)
What they said
Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith: “I think they’re a well prepared, well-coached team. They’ve been here before. They’re very physical. That’s one thing you have to have when you get to this level. I thought their endurance, their stamina, their leadership from Roosevelt and certainly got outside shooting in this type of…in a tournament like this. You’ve got to make shots.
We’ve struggled to make some easy baskets today. I don’t know how many lay-ups we missed – probably missed four, five in the second half. So, you got to finish plays and that’s what they do. I think they’re certainly one of the teams that could do well in this tournament.”
Butler head coach Chris Holtman: “In these kind of settings you’re already in advance preparing for the teams you could potentially play. I think everybody’s doing that. Our staff has been hard at work late into last night in preparation for both teams we would/could play, so that’s typical. Listen, when you’re in the 8-9 game, I think everybody knows what’s coming next if you win.
So our guys, we’ll prepare them as well as we can. We’ll really try to be as simple and basic as we can, and we know that we could potentially play either team, and we’ll be ready for it. The players will sleep well tonight. Coaches will not.”
Up next
No. 9 Butler (22-10) vs. No. 1 Virginia (27-7) – Sat., 7:10 p.m.